Monday January 16, 2012, 12:32 am
On Thursday I published The Return of a Giant about Bill Moyersí return to television with a new show, Moyers and Company. On Saturday, he aired the first installation of that show: Winner Take All Politics. Itís a long clip, taking almost an hour to watch, but if you missed this on Saturday, itís well worth the time.

Monday January 16, 2012, 1:03 am
WOW - God bless and protect Bill Moyers - back in an hour when I have watched and really thought about this video - many thanks TomCat - we over here would NEVER have had access to this without so much difficulty without your help!

Monday January 16, 2012, 1:07 am
Holy Hannah! Look at the graph of income growth compared to where they were in 1979 - many are about the same, some have grown a little - wait till you see the top one percent - it is truly MIND BOGGLING!!!

[Sorry TomCat - tried to send you a green star - you deserve at least ten for this article - but the computer won't let me.]

Monday January 16, 2012, 1:50 am
Ms Greubel and Messrs Hacker and Pierson are so well worth watching - and on the 39th minute they say how they think we can get out of this mess.

What really REALLY worries me is that this scandalous and indefensible inequalities in wealth is exactly what has lead in the past in almost every country in the world to a revolution - and they tend to be rather unpleasant - particularly for the vulnerable in society.

Oh Christmas! There is a Rich Bankster who asserts that one of the demonstrators is ok as he has clothes - there was more but as a soundbite that was fairly priceless!

Monday January 16, 2012, 5:35 am
a copy and paste from another post about the return of BM: AAAaaa - the breath of fresh air, through a crack in the door of truth and relevance, that Bill forces open.
TY Kit for the post.
Now let's Occupy something and let our combined voices be heard demanding our rights, justice under a single standard of the law and equality for all.

Monday January 16, 2012, 5:31 pm
An excellent article, such that I watched it twice making notes, and it was more than worth the time. Here are some points from it.

I never saw the movie Wall Street but I think I'm going to have to. In it, Michael Douglas' character says "I create nothing. I own. We make the rules." and "You're not naive to believe we live in a democracy are you?"

Inequality is made to happen by government; it is promoting inequality and failing to step in and fix the growing differences. It is the 'have it alls' versus the rest of the US population!

Between 1979 and 2005, the income of the top 1% grew by 256%. Split that 1% down further and the top one hundredth of 1% of households' income went off the chart --- pulled in income equal to $1 out of every $8, that's 12.5% of the income of all Americans is earned by 1 one thousandth of US households (an infinitesimal number of households making 12.5% of all income in the US --- scandalous!)

Why do the top earners get policies to make their earnings more, and the rest don't? --- money talks!

$46,000,000 per tax payer in the top 400 --- that is the amount that the Bush tax cuts saved each of the top 400 tax payers which is $18.4 billion

protecting the top --- The public officials are rewritting the rules of the economy that favour the few at the expense of the many.

'All men are created equal' --- Thomas Jefferson, and therefore should have equal opportunity to influence government but it is only the tiny minority, the uber rich that are able to influence which comes back to 'money talks!'.

Financial crisis caused by poor decisions by Washington and Wall Street; and the failure of domestic policy.

A poll: Washington helps

53% of respondents said the 1%;
44% said corporations; and
2% said the middle class.
The 1% have dominant power over both political powers.

Hacker and Pierson said politics got us into this mess and politics can get us out. I add if there is the political courage and will to do so.

I question if we say that a good education is a key to success and the researchers (Hacker and Pierson) confirm that education is important but not the only factor, then why are so many states, ie Texas, gutting education so that a quality education is not equally available to everyone --- a tool for success?

A governmentt that is now of the rich, by the rich, for the rich.

I found this facinating such that I would like to read the book. Also, I think these two men have a phenomenal amount of information and would make excellent advisors to any president. Whether they'd do it is another story.
This certainly is not partisanship.